THE lands of Blackfaulds and Barrowfield, now known as Calton
and Bridgeton, originally formed part of the Church Lands of the Archbishopric
of Glasgow, and by an Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1587 they were annexed
to the Crown. In a charter granted by King James VI., of date 3rd November,
1587, in favour of Walter, Commendator of Blantyre, his heirs and assignees,
there were granted in feu, along with the Land and Barony and the Town and Burgh
of Glasgow, the lands of Barrowfield and other places now forming part of the
City of Glasgow. In 1643 the lands of Blackfaulds or Calton were owned by George
Duncan of Barrowfield. He was succeeded by James Duncan, who subsequently sold
his estates to John Walkinshaw, a member of an old Renfrewshire family. In 1705,
a grandson, also named John, commenced to feu the lands of Blackfaulds. This
gentleman and his brother-in-law, Sir Hugh Paterson of Bannockburn, were
implicated in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. Their lands were forfeited, and
Walkinshaw was committed to Stirling Castle on a charge of high treason, but
escaped through the adroitness of his lady, who changed clothes with him and
remained in his stead. The Crown subsequently relinquished Barrowfield to a
trustee, for behoof of Walkinshaw's wife and family. He had ten daughters, one
of whom, the famous Clemintina Walkinshaw, was a mistress of Prince Charlie, who
created their illegitimate daughter Duchess of Albany.

In 1723 the estate of Barrowfield was purchased by the Town
Council of Glasgow, and at that time only 19 small lots had been feued. In 1731
Barrowfield was bought from the Town Council by John Orr, a merchant in the
City, for £10,000. This gentleman appears from the records to have been Bailie
of Gorbals in 1718, and one of the Merchant Bailies of Glasgow the following
year. He was three times elected Rector of the University, viz., in 1731, 1735,
and again in 1741 and bequeathed £5,000 to the University to provide a Library.
He was succeeded by his son William in 1744,

ARMS OF ORR OF BARROWFIELD.

and by his grandson John in 1755. When a very young man this
last named gentleman was the hero of a romance which one would scarcely expect
to find outside the pages of a novel. He fell in love with a beautiful young
lady, the intimate friend of his sisters, and a very ardent correspondence was
the immediate result, the lover concluding one of his epistles by signing
himself "Your affectionate husband, JOHN ORR."

Years passed and Mr. Orr ceased to talk of marriage. An action
in the Court of Session was raised against him, and after a protracted
litigation the lady was declared his lawful wife. He refused to live with her or
to acknowledge her as his wife. She accordingly entered the Court of Session
once more, obtained a divorce and got married a second time, while Mr. Orr
remained single through life. He was for several years Captain-Commandant in the
light troop of Volunteers, and from 1781 till his death in 1803 he was Town
Clerk of Glasgow. The Magistrates and Council erected a monument to his memory
in the Choir of the Cathedral. Besides disposing of many feus, Mr. Orr sold to
James Dunlop of Garnkirk, and Robert Scott of Aitkenhead, part of the estate of
Barrowfield. He became bankrupt in 1795, and this was followed by the
dismemberment of the Barrowfield estate. In 1817 the portion of the lands of
Barrowfield called east Blackfaulds, on which the old village of Calton was
built, were in possession of Esther and Martha Orr, sisters of the late John
Orr, the male line having become extinct at his death. At the same time the
lands of Blackfaulds and Broomward, on which the new village of Calton was
built, were owned by Robert and William Pollok of Crossbank. From the charter
granted in 1817, erecting Calton into a Burgh, it appears that the Polloks held
their lands from the Crown.

The villages of old and new Calton formed part of the lands of
Barrowfield, which were erected into a Barony by a charter granted by King
George II. in favour of John Orr of Barrowfield, and dated 15th September, 1735.
The appointment of a Baron-Bailie would naturally follow. In all Baronies in
Scotland the tenants and feuars appointed Birlaymen, whose functions were to aid
the Baron-Bailie in the execution of his duty.

A Baron's jail appears to have been erected in Main Street
shortly after the granting of the charter. It was a curious looking structure
with iron-stanchioned windows, and had a figure resembling a dog's head above
the entrance. This jail disappeared on the extension of Moncur Street.

That the Baron's Court of Calton was out of existence prior to
1771, and that there was no local authority at that period is shown by an
interesting document presented by the late Sir Michael Connal to the Kirk
Session of St. James' Free Church, London Street. It is a compact amongst the
feuars of Calton binding themselves under certain penalties not to let their
houses to persons of bad character, and was approved and signed by, amongst
others, Rev. Laurence Hill, minister of the Barony Parish; Rev. John Jameson,
first minister

BARON'S JAIL, CALTON.

of the Associate Ante-Burgher Church in Havannah Street; and
Rev. James Fisher, first minister of the Associate Burgher Church, Shuttle
Street.

Towards the end of the 18th century Calton was chiefly
inhabited by weavers, and in 1787, owing to the manufacturers having refused to
grant an advance of wages, many of them struck work. They assembled in large
crowds, and paraded the streets with the object of intimidating and annoying
those whom they thought most inimical to their demands. On 3rd September of that
year, after doing considerable damage in Calton, a crowd of strikers repaired to
the foot of the Drygate, and were burning a number of webs of cloth when the
Magistrates, accompanied by a detachment of the 39th Infantry Regiment, arrived
on the scene. The mob greeted the Magistrates and military with a shower of
stones. The riot Act was then read, and the people were ordered to disperse. On
the rioters refusing to do so the soldiers were ordered to fire, which they did,
killing three men on the spot and wounding several others. This caused the
rioters to disperse, although the following day they again assembled in great
force in the Calton, but the timely arrival of the Glasgow Magistrates prevented
them from doing any further mischief.

A few days later the funeral of the men who were shot took
place in the Calton burying ground, and was attended by about 6,000 persons.
Their grave is still to be seen at the north-end of the Calton graveyard in
Clyde Street, now Abercromby Street, and is marked by a large flat stone bearing
the inscription -

"THIS IS THE PROPERTY OF THE WEAVING BODY

UNDER THE CHARGE OF THE FIVE DISTRICTS OF CALTON,

ERECTED BY THEM, TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN PAGE,

ALEXANDER MILLER, AND JAMES AINSLEY, WHO, AT A

MEETING OF THAT BODY FOR RESISTING THE REDUCTION

OF THEIR WAGES, WERE UPON THE THIRD DAY OF

SEPTEMBER, 1787, MARTYRED BY THE MILITARY, UNDER

ORDERS OF THE CIVIC AUTHORITY OF GLASGOW, FIRING

UPON THE MULTITUDE."

The Calton burying ground, now maintained by the Glasgow Parks
Department as an open space, was acquired by the Society of Weavers, in two
portions, in 1787 and 1822, as a graveyard for Calton and neighbourhood.

In 1791, according to a census taken by the Kirk Session of
the Barony Parish, the population of Calton (then written Caltoun) was 11,120.

The lighting of the Calton streets by gas was begun by the
Glasgow Gas Lighting Company in 1817.

At the time of the Radical rising in 1820, when the city was
in a great state of excitement, the weavers and cotton-spinners of Calton
stopped work, and, along with the miners, paraded the streets in large numbers.
Many arrests were made, and houses in Calton were searched for arms.

The old village of Calton, known as East Blackfaulds, extended
to twelve acres one rood, while the new village of Calton, built partly on the
lands of Blackfaulds and partly on the lands of Broomward, extended to forty-one
acres one rood. Three acres one rood and twenty-eight falls lay to the west of
Green Street, and the remaining thirty-seven acres one rood and twelve falls lay
to the east of said street.

The charter of the Burgh of Calton, dated 30th day of August,
1817, and by which the villages of old and new Calton were erected into a Burgh
of Barony, declared that the magistracy should consist of a Provost and three
Bailies, that the administration of any Common Good should be committed to
eleven Councillors and a Treasurer, and that the Councillors should act as
Birleymen. It was further provided that, for the space of twenty years after the
date of the first election of Magistrates, all the male inhabitants of lawful
age and who were feuars or heritable proprietors within the burgh, and rated in
the assessed hooks of the County of Lanark at not less than twenty pounds
sterling of yearly rent, or who possessed, either as tenant or proprietor, a
dwelling-house within the burgh rated at the yearly rent of at least ten pounds
sterling, should be qualified to be elected to the offices of Magistrate,
Councillor, and Treasurer. The Bailie whose name was placed first on the list
was to be the eldest - or senior - Bailie, and was to continue in office for two
years. Thus only two of the Bailies were elected annually, the third remaining
in office for two years.

The Bailies and Treasurer were to be elected from among the
Council and Magistrates of the preceding year only, but the Provost might be
chosen from the resident burgesses. The further provision was made that after
the space of twenty years from the first election, the qualification for those
offices should be thirty pounds assessment of the tenancy of a house rated at
fifteen pounds a year. There was also a resident qualification attached. The
aspirant to office should have resided in the burgh from the term of Whitsunday
before the election. For the office of Provost, however, this residential
qualification was not necessary. Even the property qualification might be set
aside if the candidate was a Justice of the Peace, or Commissioner of Supply for
the County of Lanark. The rights of the burgesses were also conserved. They had
a vote in elections whether resident or not. The elections were fixed to take
place on the first Tuesday of September, and the constituent members of the
first meeting (where, of course, open voting took place) were the inhabitants
who had paid not less than two guineas towards the erection of the lands into a
Burgh of Barony. The right of nominating the Clerk of the burgh was expressly
reserved to Esther and Martha Orr, and Robert and William Pollok, and their
successors as superiors of the burgh, but it was stipulated that they should be
obliged to nominate a fit and proper person who must not be under thirty years
of age, and who, before entering office, should find security to the
satisfaction of the Magistrates and Council. The Clerk was to act always under
the direction of the Magistrates and Council, who had the power of fixing and
regulating his fees. If at any time the superiors should delay for more than a
fortnight to appoint a Clerk, the appointment for that year would devolve upon
the Magistrates and Council.

In the event of any dispute regarding the nomination of the
Clerk, or his continuance in office, the matter was to be referred to the
Professor of Scots Law in the University of Glasgow, and the first Town Clerk of
the City of Glasgow. These individuals were also to decide electoral disputes.
Power was also given to the burgh to constitute a weekly market on Saturday, and
to collect tolls to defray the expense of maintaining the peace and order of the
market, and otherwise for the benefit of the community.

Although Mile-end formed no part of Calton the Magistrates of
that burgh obtained police jurisdiction over the village and lands of Mile-end
in 1819.

The first election of Magistrates and Councillors took place
on 2nd September, 1817, in the session house of Calton Parish Church - then a
Chapel of Ease to the Barony Parish - when eighty-one persons who had qualified
to vote, amongst whom were William Pollock of Crossbank, James Sword of
Westthorn, and Nathaniel Stevenson of Braidwood, attended. Robert Struthers,
brewer in Calton, was elected Provost; James Parker, manufacturer, Senior
Bailie; James Kerr and John Clark, Bailies; Robert Shaw, Treasurer; and John
Bartholomew, John Tossach, John Hutcheson, John Cassels, John Kirkwood, John
Little, Archibald Gardner, and Peter M'Phun, Councillors. On the 11th of the
same month the Council met and appointed twelve constables, under the
superintendence of a Councillor for each ward, for the purpose of establishing a
general and effective police, It was arranged that the Provost and Bailies would
meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays to transact business. A few days later
the Magistrates found it necessary to publicly declare that they meant to
support and protect the night patrol, and to punish all persons who obstructed
them in discharge of their duty, which shows that the citizen constabulary were
finding the life of an amateur policeman not a happy one. It was arranged to
hold Courts, on certain days, at 6 o'clock in the evening, in the north wing of
the Lancastrian School, Green Street, for the determination of claims not
exceeding £2 sterling. Two Town Officers were appointed to summon all debtors,
and were ordained to find caution in £10 each for their own good behaviour.
Their remuneration was to be two shillings per day and a suit of uniform. A Town
Bellman was also appointed, and he likewise was allowed uniform. The total cost
of officers' uniforms for the first year was £14 16s.

In 1810 schools, conducted on the principle of Mr. Lancaster's
Institute in London, had been erected in Calton, Anderston, and Gorbals, at a
cost of £5,434, but as they did not pay they were closed six years later. The
building in Calton still stands, and is presently used as an industrial school.

On 25th October the affairs of the Night Watch were again
before the Council, when it was ordained that the captain for the night was to
divide the whole patrol into parties of six, seven, or eight under a sergeant;
that not more than one glass of spirits was to be allowed to each man while on
duty, and the captain was prohibited from allowing any more to be brought into
the room. Six pairs of figure "8" hand-cuffs were ordered for the use
of the patrol, and three weeks later other twelve pairs were obtained.

The following September the burgesses were called together by
intimation from the pulpit, and by tuck of drum through the burgh. In opening
the proceedings the Rev. Matthew Graham delivered a discourse. The election of
the Magistrates and Council then took place, when Nathaniel Stevenson of
Braidwood was elected Provost, which office he held for the long period of
twenty-one years.

The practice of opening the proceedings with a religious
service at municipal elections obtained for many years afterwards. The minutes
of the Town Council of 29th August, 1833, set forth that "the chairman of
the meeting was requested to call upon the Rev. Mr. Graham for the usual sermon
previous to the election on Tuesday first." On this occasion the
Magistrates and Council met at half-past nine, the election being at eleven
o'clock forenoon.

On 28th April, 1818, the Magistrates issued a proclamation
recommending all householders to discharge beggars from travelling in the burgh,
by refusing to give them charity. A week later, "in order to prevent Irish
and other disorderly persons from going about," the Magistrates and Council
authorised stocks to be erected on the ground purchased for a jail, or any other
place to be approved of by the Provost and Bailies. On 11th May following the
Council recommended that the Irish beggars and vagrants be sent home, and that a
subscription should be set on foot to raise money for that purpose. These
proceedings were taken as a precaution against the spread of disease, as
"it was feared that in consequence of the measures taken by the Magistrates
of Glasgow against common beggars a great influx of beggars are likely to resort
to Calton, carrying along with them the seeds of infection, and spreading the
typhus fever throughout the burgh."

On 17th December, 1818, the design of a seal for the burgh was
adopted. The Police seal has been preserved and is at present in the Police
Museum in the Central Police Office.

At the beginning of the last century the inhabitants of Calton
are described as being exceedingly lawless and unruly, and the Magistrates
almost from the first inception of the burgh found that it would be necessary to
have a regular paid police force. In 1818 a Bill was promoted for the
establishment of a joint force for Calton, Bridgeton, Anderston, and Blythswood.
The scheme miscarried, but in the following year Calton obtained an Act for the
establishment of a police

ARMS OF THE BURGH OF CALTON.

force, and the annexation of the village of Mile-end and its
district, these lying contiguous to Calton and going as far east as the
territory of Glasgow extended.

In 1806 Bridgeton was described as being nearly half a mile in
length, and to have taken its name from its vicinity to the bridge over the
river leading to Rutherglen, which was built in 1775 at a cost of £1,800.

At the same period Camlachie was described as being mostly
inhabited by colliers employed in the neighbourhood.

Calton Parish Church was built by subscription in 1793 as a
Chapel of Ease to the Barony. It was seated for 1,400, and the stipend was
£250. The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Great Hamilton Street was built in
1756* and was seated for 600. Calton Relief Church, now the Calton U.F., was
built on the site of the old Cameronian Church in Kirk Street, in 1821, and was
seated for 1,400.

Prior to 1805 there was no place of worship in Bridgeton, but
in that year a number of the members of (East) Campbell Street Relief Church
residing in Bridgeton and neighbourhood formed themselves into a congregation
and erected a Church in John Street, which was opened the following year. It was
seated for 1,320, and for many years was the only place of worship in Bridgeton.
When the United Presbyterian

SPECIAL CONSTABLE'S BADGE, SHOWING BURGH ARMS
AND MOTTO.

Church was formed in 1847, by the union of the Secession and
Relief Churches, its designation was changed to Greenhead U.P. Church, and is
now the Greenhead United Free Church.

A letter appearing in a local paper in April, 1834, complained
that there were 11,000 inhabitants in Bridgeton and only one place of worship.
Drunk people staggering about on Sundays was said to be one of the commonest
sights, and street fights were frequent. The scenes in Main Street were
described as "almost' incredible."

The Calton police were only sent into Bridgeton in exceptional
circumstances.

That the behaviour of the people of Calton was just as bad is
seen by the following excerpts from the Glasgow Thistle of 1831.

"During the week upwards of 20 persons were taken up for
being drunk and disorderly on the streets (of Calton), the greater number of
these were taken up on Sunday, while strolling the streets in a beastly
condition, during the hours of Divine service. They were all fined in various
small sums."

"Mrs. Peebles, an old wretch, residing in Main Street,
Calton, for having her house in a disorderly state on Sunday morning., was fined
in two shillings and sixpence."

October 22, 1831, Calton Police Court, Monday.

Eighteen cases of drunks and disorderlies were disposed of.
The general part of them were Chelsea pensioners, and were carried in for
preservation. Some of them were ordered to pay for their porterage, and others
were fined according to the nature of their offences.

November 5, 1831: "The rest of this week's cases
consisted of drunks and disorderlies, some of whom were wheeled or carried to
the Police Office and had to pay porterage. The others were fined from two to
five shillings."

December 5, 1831: "Four of the toppers found strolling
the street during divine service were fined in sums ranging from two shillings
and sixpence to five shillings."

As shown by the Police Court books some curious cases were
brought before the Calton Bailies. Thus on 14th January, 1822, John Johnston,
for whistling on the streets on Sunday, was fined half-a-crown. On 6th May of
the same year John Ballantyne, of Saltmarket, Glasgow, was fined in a like sum
for allowing three swine belonging to him to be at large on the streets of
Calton during church hours. On 17th June following, four men were each fined in
five shillings for "improper and reprehensible conduct', on the streets by
"putting the stone." On 26th August, Archibald Galla, from Cambuslang,
for having at 10.30 o'clock the previous night caused a disturbance, resisted
arrest, and caused Patrolman Connor to lose his nightcap was fined in ten
shillings.

Although persons convicted of trifling offences were treated
in a very lenient manner, persons convicted of serious offences were sharply
dealt with. For example, on 18th July, 1822, Thomas Miller, a weaver, for theft
of a black silk cloak from the house of Miss Parrat, Clayknowes, was sentenced
to 28 days' solitary confinement, during which he was to be fed on bread and
water. On the 6th of the same month a man named Ebenezer M'Laren, got a like
sentence for stealing a pair of drawers. On 22nd January of the same year, Hugh

Clelland, a weaver, for cruelty to a dog by skinning it while
it was alive, was fined in twelve shillings, failing immediate payment, thirty
days' imprisonment with hard labour. The Calton and Mile-end Bridewell book,
which is still preserved, shows that he underwent his full term of imprisonment.

St. Luke's Parish Church in Main Street was one of the twenty
churches erected through the indefatigable labours of Dr. Thomas Chalmers. It
was built in 1836, the first minister being the Rev. W. Fowler.

At the disruption in 1843 the members of the congregation
threw in their lot with the Free Church, and continued to worship in the old
church till 1849, when the House of Lords decided that all quoad sacra
churches were the property of the Established Church of Scotland.

This was particularly hard on St. Luke's congregation, for the
money necessary to erect the church was raised by public subscription, not one
halfpenny being granted by Government. The Rev. David Mitchell, who had
succeeded Mr. Fowler, preached the last sermon in the old building on 25th
February, 1849. Bravely the members kept together, and after worshipping in
different churches, kindly placed at their disposal, they took a lease of the
Mechanics' Hall, Canning Street, where regular worship was held, until they
secured the site where St. Luke's U.F. Church now stands at 131 Great Hamilton
Street.

The foundation stone was laid on 10th September, 1849, by Mr.
Hugh Logan, and the church was opened on 13th May, 1850, by the Rev. Dr.
Cunningham, Principal of the New College, Edinburgh, who preached morning and
evening, while the minister, the Rev. David Mitchell, preached in the afternoon,
the day's collections being £127 10s. 5d.

The total cost of the church was £2,177 19s. 6d. The present
clocks, which still tick merrily in the building, were originally gifted to the
old St Luke's by a lady who, when the House of Lords decision was made known,
resolved that when she went the clocks would go with her. Without delay she had
them removed, and retained them till the present building was completed when she
had them hung up where they are still to be seen.

The Anderston and Calton Sabbath Day School Society
established Sabbath schools in both these districts in 1808, the teachers giving
their services free. The subjects taught seem, however, to have been more of a
secular than of a religious nature.

In 1833 a lady, Miss Hood, bequeathed the sum of £500 for the
encouragement of education in the burgh. The money was placed under the
management of the Magistrates in conjunction with the minister of Calton Chapel
of Ease.

In 1833 was established the Calton, Mile-end, and Bridgeton
Mechanics' Institution, with the object of placing within the reach of the
subscribers the fullest information on all matters of general interest and to
provide an agreeable place of resort. It was the first institution of its kind
in the country, and is still in existence.

From the reports on Municipal Corporations in 1835 we learn
that there were, at that time, in the burgh of Calton 181 burgesses, 264 persons
whose yearly rents in property or tenancy amounted to £10 or upwards, and 714
whose yearly rents, though under £10, amounted to £5 or upwards.

During the first half of last century there existed in Calton
an association called "The Calton and Bridgeton Bread Society,", which
was formed for the purpose of distributing bread to its members at a lower rate
than the current prices in the district.

The first Calton Police Act was passed on 23rd March, 1819. It
was entitled "An Act for regulating the Police of the Burgh of Calton and
Village of Mile-end, in the County of Lanark; paving, cleansing, and lighting
the streets and passages of the said district; and for the erecting a Court
House, Gaol, and a Bridewell or Workhouse therein."

The burgh was divided into nine wards, each represented by a
Resident Commissioner of Police, who was invested with the whole powers known in
the law of Scotland to belong to the office of constable. His insignia of office
was a white rod, four and a half feet long, with the crown and initial of the
reigning Sovereign on one side, and the burgh arms and motto, "By industry
we prosper," on the other. Under the arms were the words "Commissioner
of Police" on a scroll painted round the rod in serpentine form. This rod
was even more imposing than the insignia of a Police Commissioner of Glasgow.
Part of a Commissioner's duties was to warn away from his ward all poor persons
not entitled to relief, in order to prevent them from becoming entitled to any
benefit or charity connected with his ward.

The First Ward was bounded by Great Hamilton Street on the
south, by Well Street on the east, by New Street on the north, and by the
Royalty of the City of Glasgow on the west, and, like all the other wards,
comprehended all intermediate grounds and buildings.

The Second Ward was bounded by New Street on the south, by
Main Street on the east, and by the Royalty of the City of Glasgow on the other
parts.

The Third Ward was bounded by Great Hamilton Street on the
south, by Green Street on the east, Kirk Street on the north, and by Well Street
on the west.

The Fourth Ward was bounded by Kirk Street on the south, by
Green Street on the east, by the Royalty of the City of Glasgow on the north,
and by Main Street on the west.

The Fifth Ward was bounded by Barrowfield Road on the south,
by Clyde Street on the east, by Crossloan Street on the north, and by Green
Street on the west.

The Sixth Ward was bounded by Crossloan Street on the south,
by the Royalty of Glasgow on the east and north, and by Green Street on the
west.

The Seventh Ward was bounded by Barrowfield Road on the south,
by the lands and village of Mile-end on the east, by the Royalty of the City of
Glasgow on the north, and by Clyde Street on the west.

The Eighth Ward was bounded upon the west and south by the
Royalty of the City of Glasgow, by Camlachie Burn on the east, and Barrowfield
Road on the north.

The Ninth Ward embraced the lands and village of Mile-end.

The Commissioners were elected annually on the first

Monday in October by persons who paid a rent of £5 or
upwards, or who possessed property in Calton or Mile-end valued in the county
assessor's books at £20, or householders whose dwellings were valued at £10 or
upwards.

Three of the Commissioners demitted office each year. They met
four times yearly on the second Mondays of October, January, April, and July, at
10 o'clock forenoon. The Provost, Bailies, and Dean of Guild were Commissioners ex
officiis.

They were empowered to cause the streets to be lighted with
lamps, and to have lamp irons fixed to houses and buildings. The penalty for
breaking or taking away such lamps or irons was £15, or in default of payment
two months' imprisonment; They were also empowered to appoint a Master of Police
to act under the authority of the Provost, Bailies, and Dean of Guild, and they
also appointed the watchmen and patrolmen. The Magistrates and Dean of Guild had
also power to appoint special constables.

The Dean of Guild had the same powers as a Bailie, and two
Magistrates had the power to commit to gaol for six months any dealer who
refused to give up stolen goods to the police.

The jurisdiction of the Magistrates was restricted to persons
living in the Calton or persons committing offences within the burgh, and when a
person accused of committing an offence removed from Calton before his trial,
the warrant to arrest him had to be signed by the Sheriff.

All idlers, beggars, vagrants, and persons following no lawful
employment were liable to three months' imprisonment, and those harbouring them
or giving them lodging were liable to a penalty of £2.

Anyone entertaining watchmen while on duty was liable to a
penalty of £1, half of the fine to go to the informer,

All Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Magistrates were
required by the Act to aid the Magistrates of Calton in enforcing the law, and
any appeal from their judgement was to be made to next Circuit Court at Glasgow.

The Act was to be in force for a period of 21 years.

The Magistrates of Calton still exercised both a civil and
criminal jurisdiction over old and new Calton, but they had only a criminal
jurisdiction over the village of Mile-end, and they had no power to grant a
public-house licence. When a person residing in Calton desired to have a licence
to sell malt or spiritous liquors, he had to produce a certificate signed by his
minister and elder setting forth that he was of good moral character, and might
be safely licensed to keep a public-house. This certificate he presented at the
J.P. Clerk's Office, Glasgow, where it was entered in a book preparatory

to the applicant receiving a certificate under the hand of two
Justices to the Collector of Excise, who thereupon granted the licence for one
whole year commencing on 5th July. The certificate specified the kind of liquor
to be sold in the applicant's house, shop, cellar, yard, garden or premises, and
prohibited gaming, disorder, or drunkenness.

This state of affairs continued till the passing of the "
Home Drummond Act," in 1828.

It was the duty of the Magistrates to see that public-houses
were closed at midnight, and on Sundays during the hours of divine service.

So soon as the first Board of Commissioners were elected they
set about the enrolment of a regular police force.

A large number of the burgesses were also sworn in as

special constables, and were each supplied with a round-
shaped brass badge of office, with the Burgh Arms, and dated "30th August,
1817," on the obverse side, and the words "Special Constable, No.
," on the reverse side. The following is a copy of the oath subscribed by
them:-

"We do severally swear that we will faithfully discharge
the duties of a special constable to the best of our judgement, and as such will
give our assistance to the Provost and Magistrates of Calton and to the Sheriff
and Justices of the Peace for Lanarkshire in maintaining order, in supporting
lawful authority, and preserving the public peace within the district of Calton
and Mile-end."

The first entries on the roll of special constables are dated,
"Calton of Glasgow, and signed, Nathaniel Stevenson, Chief
Magistrate."

The first Calton Police Court book has unfortunately been
lost, but the second one, which covers a period from 1st

September, 1821, to 26th October, 1822, contains proceedings
in 1,769 cases, including 2,694 persons. Of those 538 were from Glasgow, 202
from the country, and 1,984 resided in the Calton.

The most surprising thing, however, is that of the 2,694
persons proceeded against only 27 (22 males and 5 females) were committed to
Bridewell, all the others convicted having managed to pay their fines, and the
manner in which the fines were recovered will be shown further on.

Mr. John Hamilton was the first chief, and the new force
consisted of 1 superintendent, 3 sergeants, and 10 watchmen. The first police
office was formed out of part of the Lancastrian School in Green Street, and
consisted of an officer's room, with two or three small cells adjoining. A
Glasgow historian mentions that in a court outside there were stocks for the
purpose of reducing troublesome prisoners to reason, and as terror to evildoers
in general. The same historian adds: "The Calton was for many years an
exceedingly lawless and unruly place, so much so that the first police officers
perambulated the streets in couples armed with cutlasses-and they used them,
too, for one occasion was well remembered on which an encounter took place with
a gang of desperate resurrectionists, who were robbing the Calton burying ground
in Clyde Street, when one of the body lifters got his arm nearly cut off, and
this wholesome blood letting helped to clear the district of those
wretches." In more peaceful times the cutlasses were displaced by staves,
some of which have been preserved and can be seen in the Kelvingrove Museum.
They are green painted, and are somewhat longer than an ordinary police baton,
but are of the same thickness throughout. At a later date the staves were in
turn superseded by the ordinary baton.

It would appear that the police premises in Green Street

were occupied for at least three years. The Burgh Buildings,
which included the Council Chambers, Police Office, and Bridewell, were erected
in Stevenson Street in 1823-4.

In 1821 it was found necessary to employ five extra patrolmen
on Saturdays, and in 1824 an extra watchman was added to the force. In 1826 Mr.
Robert Bryce, the second superintendent, was appointed. The strength of the
force was then 15, but six extra patrolmen were employed on Saturdays. Two years
later the extra Saturday patrol was discontinued, and three additional men were
employed on Sundays instead. In 1830 the force included 1 superintendent, 4
sergeants and 15 watchmen, three extra patrolmen being engaged on Sundays. In
1831 two doorkeepers were added, and two years later the regular watchmen were
reduced by five, but four extra patrolmen were employed on Saturdays and six
extra on Sundays. It thus required upwards of 50 per cent. more men to keep the
peace in Calton on Sundays than on week days.

In 1833 Bryce Smith, a lieutenant in the Glasgow Police, was
appointed superintendent of the Calton Police, but held office for only twelve
months, when Mr. John Gilliland was appointed chief. His term of office was also
very short, and in June, 1835, Mr. James Smart, a sergeant in the Gorbals
Police, was appointed superintendent. In addition to his duties as Chief of
Police, Mr. Smart was also joint Burgh Fiscal, Inspector of Weights and
Measures, and Burgh Surveyor.

After the Police Commissioners were constituted the most
active share of the government of the burgh devolved upon them, and the minutes
of the Magistrates and Council are chiefly of a routine character, dealing with
such subjects as the annual elections, the admission of burgesses, the
imposition and collection of Statute Labour money for keeping up the streets and
roads, and regulations regarding weights and measures.

The number of cases disposed of in the Calton Police Court
between the date of its inception in 1820 and 1832 averaged 2,587 yearly.

In addition to the powers conferred upon them by the Police
Act, the Magistrates of Calton had all the rights,

powers, authorities, and jurisdictions possessed by the
Magistrates and Councils of Royal Burghs, with the exception that they did not
have the power to try cases punishable by death or transportation.

The fact that comparatively few sentenced persons were
committed to Bridewell is explained by the practice in vogue of accepting almost
any article of value in pledge. Thus on 6th November, 1821, David Jackson and
John Russell, who had been fined 4s each for fighting, left three yards of blue
cloth in pledge for 14 days.

On the 28th of the same month three men who for consuming
liquor to the value of 6s. 8d. in a public-house in Kirk Street, and refusing to
pay for the same, were fined half-a-crown each, and in default of payment, to be
committed to Bridewell until their fines were paid, left two coats and a silk
vest in pledge for the fines. On 17th December, 1821, John Downie, a blacksmith,
who had been fined seven shillings and sixpence for disturbing the peace, left
his own hat and a child's hat in security for the fine.

All sorts of articles were taken in pledge by the Police until
the offenders were able to pay their fines, some of the most curious being a
barber's hone, a handkerchief, a pair of trousers, a pair of blankets, and in
one case Peter O'Hara, an Irish shoemaker, left a gown, a bed-tick, a straw hat,
and other articles. On 29th May, 1822, a Mrs. Fraser, from New Street, who had
been fined in half-a-crown, left a watering-can. On 4th June, 1822, a Mrs.
M'Farlan, a pedlar, left a pack containing beads, earrings, and tapes until she
could pay a fine of one shilling and sixpence. This woman was in all probability
the mother of James M'Farlan, the pedlar poet.

When articles were not redeemed within fourteen days they were
sold, as shown by the fact that in July, 1822, a man named John Gillan, left a
watch and coat in security for a fine of twenty-one shillings, and the books
show that the watch was afterwards sold for twenty-five shillings. On 13th
August of the same year, a watch left in security for a fine of fifteen
shillings was sold for ten shillings. In the same month a watch left for a fine
of seven shillings was sold for ten shillings, showing that if there was a loss
in one case there was a gain in another.

That prisoners sometimes made themselves useful is shown by an
entry of 4th July, 1822, to the effect that Samuel Jackson, a slater from Kirk
Street, who had been fined 5s., or in default 14 days, for getting goods and
refusing to pay for them, whitewashed the Police Office and painted the
superintendent's room during his term of imprisonment.

In November, 1899, an Act of Parliament was passed empowering
Governors of Prisons to accept part payment of fines after a prisoner had
undergone part of his sentence. But this was nothing new, as on 8th July, 1822,
Edward Reilly, a weaver from Bell Street, Calton, who had been sent to prison
for seven days in default of payment of a fine of 5s. for assaulting his mother,
was liberated at the end of six days, when he left a bed-tick with the police in
lieu of the last day.

The wall known as Harvie's Dyke was erected in 1822 at
Westthorn, on the banks of Clyde, about 1 1/4 miles above Dalmarnock Bridge, by
Thomas Harvie, spirit merchant, Glasgow, for the purpose of closing up a
footpath which had existed for about half a century. The attempt to effect a
free passage through this wall, which was ten feet high and four feet thick,
gave rise to the process between Harvie and the public which, after a litigation
of six years in the Scottish Law Courts and the House of Lords, terminated in
the public's favour.

To James Duncan of Mosesfield and Gabriel Neil is due the
credit of having originally formed the determination of asserting and
maintaining the rights of the citizens to a free passage along the banks of
Clyde opposite Mr. Harvie's property.

On .34th July, 1822, a letter signed "Argus," which
was written by Neil, appeared in the Glasgow Chronicle, suggesting a public
meeting of the citizens for the purpose of taking steps to have the footpath
re-opened to the public. This letter was followed by others written in a similar
strain, but it was not till June of the following year that public indignation
was thoroughly aroused owing to another proprietor adjoining Dalmarnock Bridge
having commenced to build a wall to prevent any passage farther up the side of
the river than the bridge.

On Saturday, 21st June, 1823, a large crowd of people
assembled and demolished part of both walls. Some one informed the Sheriff, who
called out the military, a troop of the Enniskillen Dragoons, with the result
that 43 persons were arrested by the soldiers. Of those arrested, four of

VIEW OF WALL AT WESTTHORN
(HARVIE'S DYKE).

Erected by Thos Harvie, Spirit Dealer.

them, named respectively Alexander McPhie, John Baird, Andrew
Adamson, and Walter Winning were convicted at the Autumn Circuit Court at
Glasgow in September, 1823, for mobbing and rioting, and were each sentenced to
six months' imprisonment, and ordained to find caution in £50 to keep the peace
for the following three years.

A meeting was held on 10th July, and a committee of ten feuars
in Bridgeton, Camlachie, Parkhead, Tollcross, and Carmyle, and merchants in
Glasgow, were appointed to conduct the case in the interest of the public.

The year 1829 saw the end of the lawsuit, which resulted in a
great victory for the public and the presentation to five of the principal
members of the committee of a gold medal as a token of public respect and
gratitude for their labours in the case.*

*The medal presented to Mr Duncan was shown at the Scottish
Historical Exhibition.

In the spring of 1837 set in an alarming stagnation of trade,
which was felt keenly in Calton and the East-end. Orders for goods almost
ceased, and manufacturers reduced the wages of the cotton-spinners, who struck
work in April. Finding the mills almost depopulated, there were many who either
from necessity, or from an ambition to improve their circumstances, "went
in" upon the cotton-spinners' labour. These were designated "Nobs,"
and on 22nd July, one of them, named John Smith, was shot down on the streets. A
few days afterwards a spinner, named William M'Lean, was arrested at Campsie on
suspicion of having committed the murder, and on 29th July the committee of the
Glasgow Cotton Spinners' Association were arrested by Sheriff Allison and
Superintendent Millar, of the City Police, in the Blackboy Tavern, Gallowgate.
Twelve of them were subsequently liberated, but five of the executive of the
association, including M'Lean, were committed for trial charged with
"having formed an illegal conspiracy for the purpose of forcibly and
illegally raising or keeping up wages, or the price of labour, by means of
writing or sending threatening letters to masters or their managers, and
wilfully setting fire to, or attempting to set fire to the dwelling-houses,
mills, or warehouses of owners, masters, or their managers, and of forcibly
invading the dwelling-houses of workmen, and of assaulting and murdering
workmen, or by means of the perpetration of one or more of these unlawful acts,
with the illegal and felonious intent and purpose of thereby deterring and
intimidating them respectively from giving or taking employment at the rate of
wages or on the terms which they please."

The sum of £1,000 was contributed for the defence of the
accused. A long delay took place before the prisoners were indicted for trial,
and it was not until 3rd January, 1838, that their trial commenced before the
High Court at Edinburgh.

The names of the prisoners were :- Thomas Hunter, president ;
Peter Hacket, treasurer; Richard M'Neil, secretary; James Gibb, assistant
secretary; and William M'Lean, guard.

There were twelve separate counts in the indictment, and the
jury by 8 to 7 convicted on four of the counts. They were each sentenced to
seven years transportation.

PORTRAITS OF THE EXECUTIVE OF THE ASSOCIATION
OF

GLASGOW COTTON SPINNERS.

Public opinion was sharply divided on the merits of the case.
On the one side it was argued that three actual murders, twice as many attempted
murders, several daring cases of incendiarism, with numerous cases of assault,
were clearly traced to the association, and that consequently the punishment was
too lenient. On the other side the friends of the prisoners pointed out that the
long delay in bringing them to trial, and the fact that the jury only convicted
by a majority of one, showed that the case against them was very weak, and
called for their liberation, or at least for a reduction of their sentences.

In the course of the trial, the mysterious murder of a widow,
named M'Pherson, in Pollok's Land, Calton, was elucidated. It appeared from the
evidence that Mr. Dunlop, proprietor of Broomward Factory, Calton, had filled
his mill with female workers. A secret committee of three was appointed by the
Operative Cotton Spinners' Association to get the women turned out of the mill.
The committee was independent of control from the main body of the association,
but it was understood that they were to use every means to put out the women who
had taken the places of the male workers. They first attempted to set fire to
the mill, but failed. They then lay in wait for the purpose of murdering a
daughter of the woman M'Pherson, who worked in the mill, with a view to
intimidating the other women, but by mistake killed the mother instead of the
daughter. The murder was committed by two men named Patton Dunlop and Bernard
M'Kerry; their passage money to America was paid out of the funds of the
association, and they were smuggled out of the country. The money given to
persons for committing murder and other crimes was entered in the books and
documents of the association under the heading of "Collery."

At the Glasgow Circuit Court on 11th January, 1838, Thomas
Riddle, an operative cotton-spinner, was convicted of invading a dwelling-house
in Reid Street, Bridgeton, and assaulting and intimidating its inmate, Thomas
Donaghy, an operative cotton-spinner, with the Mile-end Spinning Company, from
following his employment, and was sentenced to seven years' transportation. Two
other men concerned in the crime absconded and were not afterwards heard of.

* In 1837 there were 100 cotton mills in Glasgow and suburbs,
and cotton-spinning was one of the principal industries in the city.

(*Annals of Glasgow, by E. Henderson,
F.R.S.A.)

At the beginning of last century hand-loom weaving was the
staple industry of Calton; to-day Mr. John M'Dowal, 42 Bell Street, is probably
the sole representative of that once famous trade.

In 1839 Provost Stevenson resigned after having held office
for twenty-one years, and Mr. Robert Bartholomew was elected Provost.

In 1840 the second Calton Police Act was passed. This Act
empowered the Magistrates and Commissioners to erect Slaughter-Houses; and to
appoint Meat Inspectors and Inspectors of Common Lodging Houses. The keepers of
lodging houses were ordained to give notice to the police if any of their
lodgers became ill. This was enacted with a view to prevent the spread of
infectious disease, and the penalty for omitting to give such notice was a fine
of £2.

By containing a provision securing the burgh against exclusion
from the operations of any future Act for the establishment of a general system
of police, applicable to the whole boundaries to which the Parliamentary
franchise of the city extended, this Act paved the way for amalgamation.

In 1844 Calton attempted to annex Bridgeton, but the bill was
rejected.

There was a Feuars' Court in Bridgeton for the management of
the streets and other matters relative to their feus. In 1845-46 this Court and
other parties interested promoted bills in Parliament for the establishment and
maintenance of a police force in the village, but the bills did not become law
by reason of the passing of the Police Act of 1846, under which the amalgamation
of the burghs of Anderston and Calton and the Barony of Gorbals with the city
took place. While the Act of 1846 was the Amalgamation Act, the Glasgow Police
Act of 1843 was partly so, as it gave the police of Anderston, Calton, and
Gorbals power to apprehend offenders in Glasgow without a Glasgow Magistrate's
warrant. The City Police had previously obtained power to apprehend within the
whole of the Parliamentary boundary of Glasgow, which included the aforesaid
burghs and barony. Thus; up till the end of 1846, there were five separate
police establishments within the Parliamentary bounds of the city, and the
united forces amounted to 422. These establishments were governed by separate
and independent Magistrates and Police Commissioners, but he Municipal Act of
that year abolished the whole of the suburban Magistrates, with the
Commissioners of Police; and the whole of the buildings and other property, with
the several police establishments, were handed over to the Town Council of the
city, who, by a committee of their number, performed the duties of the old
Commissioners under the title of the Police Board. By the Corporation and Police
Act, 1895, the Police Board merged into the Corporation, but the Office of Clerk
of Police, which had existed since the passing of the first Glasgow Police Act
in the year 1800, was continued so long as Sir James Marwick should hold the
office of Town Clerk. On his resignation of that office, in 1903, the duties of
the Police Clerk devolved upon the Town Clerk.

The fourth and last Provost of Calton was Mr. Robert
(should be William -
GA) Bankier, who was elected in 1843. He held office until the
burgh amalgamated with Glasgow in 1846; and Superintendent Smart, who was at the
date of amalgamation superintendent of the Calton Burgh Police, was appointed
assistant superintendent in the City Police in charge of the Calton or C
Division. It was during his term of office that the Bread Riots took place.

These riots commenced in the city on Monday, 6th March, 1848,
but nothing serious occurred in Calton until the following day. On the Tuesday
Mr. Smart, escorted by a small body of old pensioners, designated " Old
Foggies," who were armed with muskets, was conveying a prisoner to Calton
Police Office, when they were attacked by a mob of people who threw stones, some
of which struck Mr. Smart and members of his escort. Mr. Smart ordered the
pensioners to fire, which they did, killing a man named Carruth, who was
attending at his own shop door, and fatally wounding three men, one of whom had
been sworn in as a special constable. The mob placed Carruth's body upon a
shutter and marched with it to Glasgow Cross, calling aloud for vengeance. In
Trongate they were met by the military, accompanied by the Sheriff, who read the
Riot Act, and this caused the crowd to disperse. The body of Carruth was taken
to the Central Police Office in

Albion Street, and the riots ended.

However regrettable the shedding of blood, and particularly
the taking of innocent lives may have been, it was the vigorous action of
Superintendent Smart that saved the city from pillage by the mob. He was
appointed chief of the whole police force of the city before the end of the
year, and held the position till his death in 1870.

The second Superintendent of the Calton Police, after its
amalgamation with Glasgow, was Mr. Richard Baker, an ex-army pay-sergeant and a
native of London. Mr. Baker, who was serving as a lieutenant in the Gorbals
Police at the amalgamation, was transferred to the Central Division in 1847, and
appointed Superintendent of the Calton Division in 1848. He died on 2nd
December, 1883; and was buried in the Necropolis. Mr. Baker was much respected
in the east-end.

The third Superintendent, Mr. John Reid, a native of Dalkeith,
joined the Royal Engineers' when a young man, and subsequently served in the
Ordnance Survey. He was appointed Lieutenant in 1864, and Superintendent of the
Calton Division on 11th December, 1883. He resigned on pension on 30th April,
1898.

Mr. Reid was succeeded by Mr. Hew Colquhoun, who joined the
service as a constable in the early "sixties." After passing through
the various grades of detective, detective-clerk, and lieutenant, and serving in
the Northern, Southern, and Central districts, he was promoted Superintendent of
St. Rollox Division in 1886. On 1st May, 1898, he was transferred to the Calton
Division, which office he resigned in April, 1904. In November, 1905, and again
in 1907, he was elected a Town Councillor, and sat in the Council as one of the
representatives of the Calton Ward. He is a Justice of the Peace for the County
of the City of Glasgow.

The present Superintendent, Mr. John Samuel, joined the
service as a constable, and after serving for 22 years in the Northern Division,
during which period he passed through the ranks of sergeant, inspector, and,
lieutenant, he was transferred to the Central district, and four years later he
was appointed Superintendent of the Queen's Park Division. On the retiral of
Superintendent Colquhoun he was transferred to the Calton Division. He is an
elder in Gillespie U.F. Church and a member of the Glasgow U.F. Presbytery.

In conclusion, I will just say a word or two about the streets
of Old Calton. In all or nearly all the towns and villages in Scotland, in the
olden times, the principal street was known as the "Main Street,"
hence the name Main Street, Calton. King Street was originally known as the
"Beggars' Row," and is referred to as such in the Burgh Charter.
Regarding Kirk Street, Andrew Brown, in his history of Glasgow, published in
1795, tells the following story:-

"About this period (early in the eighteenth century) some
of the inhabitants and people in the neighbourhood erected a small chapel to the
worship of the Deity, at the east end of a street, running in the same direction
from the Cross. From this circumstance it is named "Kirk Street." On
the site of this chapel is now erected (in 1795) a very neat one by the people
called the Cameronians or the followers of the tenets of the 400 ministers who
were ejected from their charges and Church in 1662." The Calton Relief, now
the Calton U.F. Church, stands on the site of the old Cameronian Kirk.

Struthers Street was called after the first Provost of Calton,
while Stevenson Street, originally called "Crossloan Street," was
named after the second and greatest Provost, Mr. Nathaniel Stevenson of
Braidwood. Bankier Street was called after the fourth and last Provost of the
burgh. Orr Street was called after John Orr of Barrowfield, while Barrowfield
Road was the road to Barrowfield House, the one time residence of the families
of Walkinshaw and Orr. Tureen Street took its name from Touraine in France, the
first feuar in it having been a Frenchman named Bagniolle, who had a large
pottery there. Bagniolle was a Roman Catholic, and at the time of the "Lord
George Gordon" riots in London Bagniolle's pottery was wrecked by a Glasgow
mob. Witch

Lone was the connecting link between Abercromby Street and
Bellgrove Street, and Marshall Street being the road from Calton to the Boarhead
Inn, Gallowgate, was locally known as "Boarhead Lone."

I am indebted to Mr. Renwick, Town Clerk Depute, for his
assistance in obtaining information from the Minutes of the Town Council of
Calton,

* (This is incorrect - the Great Hamilton
Street Church was built in 1819 -the date given by Ord seems to refer to the
date of the congregation's origination, not the building - Gordon Adams)

NOTES: Updated for 1st July, 2010.

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